The Call to Adventure
Having stopped on the way into the realm of the evil king Vidal, Ofelia finds a rock that’s in the shape of an eye. Beside the road she finds the carved face that the stone eye fits into. On returning the eye to its rightful place, the journey is set in motion and the creature that will call her into the adventure appears, first it’s a cricket insect and then it shape shifts itself into a fairy to fit her imagination. It will be the fairy that guides her to cross the threshold into the nearby abandoned stone labyrinth where she meets the Faun. He is a con artist, a trickster and carries both creative and destructive energies. Part of Ofelia's journey has to do with learning to disobey the external forces of power that seeks to control her, and also the powerful mediator of this inner world. We have the mention with the Faun here as an old, ancient wise guy, normal, alike, and magical. The democracy represents a dis-connection from our natural goodness and love in the name of perverted masculine power; the rebels in the woods carry the sense of noble resistance, integrity, humanity and connection to the natural world.
Cross the 1st Threshold
Ofelia is placed in an unbearable situation. Her mother is sick and has surrendered to the rule of the evil king (her step father). Her father is dead. Human resources are not available, and so more typical resources appear. Her one saving grace in the external world is Mercedes, the unbroken housekeeper who is in conspiracy with the rebels, but is initially completely powerless to help Ofelia.
On crossing the threshold into the mythic realm, Ofelia is told by the Faun that she is really a long-lost princess and that if she can perform three tasks she will reign again. So begins the next stage of our heroine's mythic journey. The Faun gives Ofelia a book with blank pages that will tell her what to do when the time is right. Ofelia's unconscious is the author of the unfolding inner story and it will project onto the blank pages what her conscious self (or ego) needs to become aware of.
The Road of Trials
First, Ofelia is given the Book of Crossroads. While reading it, she learns that she must search an old tree that is being destroyed by a giant toad that had resided in its roots. This task was one to test her courage. It tests whether she can bravely destroy the toad and follow directions. It also seems that the tree reflects the state of the world around her. Because of the war, people and nature are in turmoil. However, Ofelia can save the tree
